News Category: House Bill 709/Senate Bill 544
| House Bill 709/Senate Bill 544, Workers' Compensation Reform
McCrory wants more bad workers’ comp changes
A scenario we predicted a year ago -- more drastic and draconian changes to workers' compensation laws in North Carolina -- could become reality if Pat McCrory wins his bid for the governor's seat. McCrory, a Charlotte Republican and former mayor of the Queen City, is running against Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton. In a speech last week to National Federation of Independent Business. According to the Charlotte Observer: "He said more workers’ compensation reform is needed. The state’s workers’ comp law underwent major changes in the legislatur ...
Read More | 2 Comments| Brain Injury, House Bill 709/Senate Bill 544, Legislation, Workers' Compensation, Workers' Compensation Reform
Virginia brain injury workers’ comp loophole not closed after all
Last year, as we were fighting against the bad workers' compensation bill before the N.C. legislature, we shared with you the story of Mike Gentry, a Virginia satellite installer who suffered a brain injury after falling from a roof. Two days after Gentry awoke from a coma, an insurance adjuster asked him if he remembered the fall. He said no; at that point, he couldn’t remember anything. And that’s all the insurance company, Zurich North America, needed to deny Gentry’s claim. Gentry’s family fought a 21-month battle to receive wor ...
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Vote and Support Candidates Who Care About Working People
We've been hearing from some people who aren't happy about the compromise version of H709, the workers' comp reform bill. Some don't believe the bill does enough to protect the rights of injured workers. But as I said last week, the bill represents a fair compromise for both sides, and it's a much better outcome for injured workers than had the original version passed. The N.C. House Committee on Insurance is expected to hear the compromise version of the bill on Thursday. To anyone who is unhappy with the compromise bill, I have one impo ...
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A doctor’s opinion: H709 would end unbiased medical care for injured workers
Dr. Gregory M. Bertics, a Raleigh neurologist, brings another perspective to the debate about H709, the bad workers' comp bill. Dr. Bertics, who regularly treats injured workers in his practice, is opposed to the bill because of the impact it would have on doctors' ability to treat workers' comp patients. Already, Bertics wrote in a guest column in the News & Observer, insurance companies and large employers try to exert too much control over medical treatment for injured workers. Under the proposed legislation, he predicts that physicians ...
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On Workers’ Compensation Issue, Rep. Dale Folwell Doesn’t Care What His Constituents Think
Video from last week's meeting of the N.C. House Committee on Tort Reform has been posted on WRAL's website, and once again the lies continue about H709, the bad workers' compensation bill. Primary bill sponsor Rep. Dale Folwell of Forsyth County says the bill has "nothing to do with people who are currently on workers' compensation." I'm calling bull on that one. As I've explained previously, H709/S544 will impact people with current workers' comp claims, not just people who are injured on the job in the future. I'm quoting myself here: ...
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Truth: Workers’ Comp Bill WILL Affect Workers with Current Claims
The other side is lying about the bad workers' comp bill, H709. I wish it weren't true, but their whole campaign to get this legislation passed is based on deceit. We continue to hear from injured workers who are being told that H709 WILL NOT affect anyone with a current workers' compensation claim. NOT TRUE! Rep. Mike Hager of Cleveland County, one of the bill's primary sponsor, writes in his April newsletter to constituents that "this bill does not affect the benefits of anyone currently on workers’ comp!" Either he's completely ...
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Vote Pending on Workers’ Comp Bill; Contact Legislators TODAY and plan to attend hearing Thursday
A vote is pending on the bad workers' comp bill, H709. The N.C. House Select Committee on Tort Reform meets Thursday (May 12), and it's possible that members will vote on the bill during that meeting. For that reason, it's crucial that you once again contact members of that committee and your own elected officials in Raleigh to tell them not to support this bad legislation. If House Bill 709 passes this committee, it's very likely that it will become law. Find contact information for the Tort Reform committee here, and find out how to contact y ...
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Key committee to consider H709 this week
The N.C. House Select Committee on Tort Reform is scheduled to consider H709, the bad workers' compensation bill, this Thursday, May 5, at 11 a.m. Insiders within the N.C. General Assembly tell us that support for this bill and its Senate counterpart, S544, are weakening. But that doesn't mean the battle is over yet. With the House bill coming up for debate later this week, we need to make a renewed push to oppose it and to educate legislators about it. Make time to call AND email your elected officials in Raleigh BEFORE Thursday's committee me ...
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Know the Facts: Medical Records and Workers’ Compensation
An Associated Press article about the two pending bad workers' compensation bills that ran in the News & Observer and other newspapers throughout was incredibly slanted in favor of the legislation that would strip injured workers of their rights, protection and medical privacy. Among other things, the article gives the impression that employers and insurance companies cannot currently access injured workers' medical records. That's completely false. The reality is that employers and insurance companies can get ANY and ALL medical records po ...
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New workers’ comp bill S692 would protect injured workers
The two bad, insurance-sponsored workers' compensation bills continue to work their way through the N.C. General Assembly. Meanwhile, two N.C. senators have recently introduced workers' compensation reform legislation that we CAN support. Sen. Doug Berger (D-Franklin) and Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Burke) have introduced Senate Bill 692, which includes bette protections for injured workers. The rival legislation -- House Bill 709 and Senate Bill 544 -- would strip injured workers of their benefits, eliminate medical privacy and choice and put insura ...
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